What I Write When I'm Not Writing

writing

Step One: Procure writing assistant. Local PetSmart adoption event is a good place to look.** Step Two: Give new assistant a few days to become acclimated. Don't force him to work right away. Step Three: Start working on edits at dining room table and wait. The assistant will appear and lie all over your notes. Step … Continue reading Training Your Writing Assistant

I've never been on a writers' retreat before. I'd heard about them, and they looked like so much fun. I ached to go on one. To have a group of writer friends, to throw my laptop and some clothes in an overnight bag and go somewhere for the weekend. Somewhere that's else, away from the dishes that … Continue reading Retreating

I'm one of those people who plans. I love lists. I love checking things off on those lists. I love figuring out a plan of attack, step by step, and I love the joy of implementing that plan and watching it unfold exactly the way it should. Last summer, the novel I'm querying got a … Continue reading When Life Happens

I suppose if you look at it purely on the surface, not much changed for me in 2015. Was a published writer in 2014? Nope. Did I become a published writer in 2015? Nope. Doesn't matter. No matter where this writing journey takes me, I will remember 2015 as the year that I made the … Continue reading 2015 in Review, or Thanks, Angela!

It's the most wonderful time of the year... I'm a big fan of NaNoWriMo. I've participated on and off for the past ten years, with varying success. I've used NaNoWriMo as a way to try out a new story idea to see if it'll work, as well as just writing something fun, a low-pressure break … Continue reading Time to NaNo!

Family and friends who know I'm a writer ask how the book is coming. "Is it done yet?" (Usually followed by "when's it coming out?") Tricky question. By my count, I've finished this novel three times now. The first time was in November of last year. I'd taken a NaNoWriMo story from a couple years before, … Continue reading On Finishing (Or Not)

The day after I got married I lost my mind. The morning started out great. We were staying in this beautiful B&B in western New York, which meant a cozy room in a Victorian house and breakfast on cute china. I had just married the love of my life, all was good. But that first … Continue reading On Not Writing

I was challenged by the lovely and talented Heidi Norrod in the7x7x7x7 Challenge. The rules are: Go to the seventh line of the seventh page of a current WIP, then post the next seven lines and tag seven more authors to do the same. So here you go, seven lines from page 7 of Peace, Love, and Rock & Roll, my … Continue reading Good Lord That’s a Lotta Sevens

A couple days ago, I tweeted: "Seeing @ManFromUNCLE again this weekend. Yes, I know I should be writing. But movie has a tall Russian in it. It's practically research." At the time, it was mostly a quick joke along the lines of ha ha, procrastination, because if there's one thing writers are good at, it's doing … Continue reading On Illya Kuryakin and Coming Full Circle